Universities need to commit themselves to attracting indigenous students to science and incorporating indigenous knowledge in curricula, according to the University of Sydney's Dr Diana Day.

"Time is up for Australian universities in their tentative attempts to increase the number of indigenous science students," she writes today in the June issue of Australasian Science magazine. "Western science is shy of the richness of traditional indigenous knowledge."

A scientist and research mentor, Dr Day is Associate Professor at the Koori Centre, University of Sydney, and a Director of the Cooperative Research Centre for Irrigation Futures.

The most recent figures illustrate what Dr Day describes as "the dearth of indigenous science students", a problem that starts at schools. "In NSW, 149 indigenous and 36,543 non-indigenous students completed HSC science and technology courses in 2003, a stark illustration of the shrinking pipeline of students who might get to university," she writes.

"In 2004 only 25 indigenous students completed a natural or physical sciences degree in Australia (compared with 9004 non-indigenous students), with 13 in environment/agriculture (1843 non-indigenous).

"Of the 1146 research doctorates completed in physical sciences and the environment, one was by an indigenous student. Career outreach to schools by universities often misses indigenous students… We are tempted to turn indigenous knowledge into scientific data."

Dr Day's research shows that "indigenous high school students need culturally targeted materials and exposure to indigenous undergraduate science ambassadors… Indigenous students have preconceived notions that science at university is for bright white kids; that science is something that someone else would do; that right or wrong answers conflict with their world view; and that scientific knowledge will not help them to support their communities."

It's not a one-way street, though, as Dr Day catalogues a "treasure trove" of traditional indigenous knowledge of Australia's natural resources which she believes has become "fragmented and unprotected due to the disruptions of colonisation". She says this knowledge should become an inclusive part of the science curriculum and management for Australia's ecological sustainability.